BAD WINE CRAPPY CHOCOLATE

CHAPTER FIFTEEN-2

Max isn't not too happy with you now. He thinks you got him arrested."

Nathaniel looked at her bitterly and started to speak. Before the words left his mouth, a hand holding a taser emerged from the fading darkness behind him. Cori was too stunned to say anything as she watched Nathaniel receive an electric charge that caused his powerful body to convulse. He writhed on the forest floor, the Wayfinder falling out of his pocket.

Hoochie took off Brandon's suit.   

"Are you all right?" he asked Cori.

"I'm fine. Where are Brandon and Cybil?"

"Cybil went to Boise to speak with Skinner."

"Who's that?"

"He's the senator from the First Territory. Cane and Max will be here soon. I rode ahead of the others because I'm a much faster rider. I was waiting in one spot all night. The scum finally came near enough for me to use this on him."  Hoochie showed her the taser.

He tied the prisoner's hands and then gagged him. Cori looked at Nathaniel and suddenly felt sympathy for her abductor. He had treated her well, and she had become convinced that there was no malice motivating his actions. Hoochie walked over to Nathaniel's horse and removed the satchels from the saddle. He then noticed the Wayfinder lying on the ground. 

"What's this?" he asked Cori, picking it up.

"It's supposed to lead me to a place where the time machine will work."

Hoochie then examined Brandon's bag. He seemed disappointed to discover that there were only Mises inside it.

"Where's the damn paper?!" he practically screamed at Nathaniel, taking out a large knife.

After receiving only a defiant stare in reply, Hoochie examined the Wayfinder once more. He seemed to be carefully considering its value. Hoochie took a step toward Nathaniel, and for an instant Cori believed that he intended to slay him. She was about to cry out in protest when her liberator turned around. Hoochie walked toward Cori with his blade reflecting the dawn. Cori felt terrified, despite knowing that this man was here to help her.

Brandon Cane arrived and she ran to him, kissing him on the forehead and hugging her son for a long time. Cori now believed she would see home again, though the young woman wondered how many more emotional turns her tired heart could endure. 

"I'm sorry it took so long to find you," Brandon told her. "I rode all night to get here."

"It wasn't that bad," Cori lied. "You should have told me who you were!"

"The less you know, the better. If you do anything differently after you're home, Cybil and I might not be born. You have to forget all about this."

Cori understood his admonition, yet she doubted that this remarkable experience could ever be effaced from her memory.

"I'm going to freshen up," she told him.

"I'll be waiting right here."

Brandon walked over to Hoochie and took the satchel out of his hands.

"I bet you really missed those," Bardy's man said with a grin.

"That's a bad joke. But thanks for getting them back."

"Here's your suit. I'd sure like to have one for my own."

"I'll see what I can do."

Brandon saw Cori's cell phone lying on the ground and picked it up. Nathaniel had been carrying it in his pocket when Hoochie stunned him. Cori's captor had been modifying this device from the past. Brandon studied his work. He was impressed, and put it in his satchel.